JGR strategy didn’t violate 100% rule (Update)

JGR driver Kenseth and Kyle Busch ran toward the back all day on purpose

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UPDATE During Sunday's Hellmann's 500 Chase elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway, three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers — Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards — elected to play it safe and ride around in the back of the pack to maintain their status in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The strategy prohibited them from helping teammate Denny Hamlin, who needed to race his way into the Chase Round of 8.

Hamlin was able to advance and keep his championship hopes alive, edging out Austin Dillon for the eighth and final Chase spot in a tiebreaker.

But, it was a close one. Hamlin beat Kurt Busch by .006 seconds to for third, while Aric Almirola beat out Austin Dillon for eighth by roughly two feet. A shift in position by either driver at the finish could have resulted in Dillon advancing instead.

At the end of the day, the strategy worked out JGR as a whole, as all four drivers survived 'Dega to keep fighting for a title.

But as can be expected, it wasn't a popular move with the fans.

And Kyle Busch had the perfect response for all the haters. "Don't hate the player….hate the game"

10/24/16 NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell, appearing on "The Morning Drive" on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Monday, said he did not expect the sanctioning body to take action against Joe Gibbs Racing for its strategy of dropping three cars to the back of the pack during Sunday's Chase elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway.

O'Donnell said employing that strategy did not constitute a violation of NASCAR's 100% rule. "I would say that they do not fall into that," O'Donnell said when asked about the 100% rule.

"The spirit of that rule is really to prevent somebody from intentionally allowing another teammate to do something that would not be really within the spirit of the rules of the race. In this case, we look at the strategy decision that the team made, and they executed it. … In this case, that wouldn't be something that we look at that violated that rule." NASCAR

The 100% rule: "NASCAR requires its competitors to race at 100 percent of their ability with the goal of achieving their best possible finishing position in an event." ESPN

#20-Kenseth finished 28th, #20-Edwards 29th and #18-Busch 30th at Talladega, good enough to advance to the semifinal round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers never made much of a move, dropping to the rear of the field before the green flag ever fell and staying there throughout the day. ESPN